– Making Every Church A Bible School –

The Holy Spirit revealed through Paul that Christians “are not under law, but under grace” (Rm 6:14). This truth is our inspiration to seek and maintain a grace-oriented relationship with God and response to His commandments. Grace that was revealed through the gospel is the initial motivation that causes one to obey the gospel in baptism. It is this truth that motivates continual transformation in our hearts throughout our lives. This is the foundational truth that must define us as disciples of the Lord Jesus in order that we are prepared for eternity. It is for this reason that we are calling for a restoration to the motivating power of the gospel of God’s grace.

In order to restore the motivational power of the gospel in the lives of individuals, it is necessary that the Bible is established as our only medium through which we understand the gospel. However, because the Bible reports on the historical events that reveal the gospel does not mean that it is the gospel. On the contrary, the Bible is the Holy Spirit inspired historical record of the events that reveal the gospel of God’s grace which He has extended to us through His incarnate Son. The Bible is our textbook to know and understand the gospel.

Lest we make the Bible a legal system of law by which we would seek to merit our own salvation through perfect obedience of its laws, we seek to restore a better understanding of the historical events in the Bible that reveal the grace of God on the cross. In restoring the gospel of grace, people are moved to be obedient to the will of God in response to His grace. Once understood, the historical events of the gospel journey of the Son of God inspire a response to the grace of God. In this way, therefore, the disciples of Christ live under the motivating power of the grace of God.

GOSPEL FOUNDATION
Gospel restoration assumes that we seek to revive in the minds of able teachers the historical events that reveal the gospel journey of the Son of God into and out of this world. These historical events are the following: (1) incarnation, (2) crucifixion, (3) resurrection, (4) ascension, (5) coronation, (6) consummation. In the textbook, the Encyclopedic Study Guide Handbook, these gospel events are the foundation upon which Gospel Restoration Bible Schools (GRBS) are established. If possible in your area, these subjects can be further studied by downloading the following resource books from our website, www.africainternational.org:

1.  Book 73, The Gospel of God’s Heart 
2.  Book 79, Gospel Restoration
3.  Book 85, The Incarnational Journey of God
4.  Book 89, Your Gospel Journey with the Son of God

GOSPEL PURPOSE
The biblical mandate behind the concept of the GRBSs is explained in three contexts: Matthew 28:20; Romans 1:13-16; 2 Timothy 2:2.

• Matthew 28:20: Jesus instructed His apostles that after they had preached the gospel, and thus motivated people to respond to the gospel by being baptized, they should do the following with the new disciples: “. . . teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” There is certainly more involved in the “all things” of Jesus’ statement than simply rehearsing the historical events through which the good news of the Son of God was revealed to mankind. At the same time, we must understand that one does not need to know “all things” concerning the depth of the knowledge of God in reference to the gospel before he or she obeys the gospel. It is for this reason, therefore, that after obedience to the gospel in baptism, one must have a sincere desire to sit and study of the work of God through His Son (See Rm 11:33-36; 2 Tm 2:15; 2 Pt 3:18). This is the reason why every assembly of disciples should be a “gospel Bible school.”

• Romans 1:13-16: Paul’s planned trip to meet with the Roman disciples would be an effort of what we refer to as a GRBS. Some of the disciples in Rome were turning their life as disciples into a legal system of religion. Even in their initial response to the gospel some were assuming that one was meritoriously saved through works of law to save himself. This is a special danger for all those who have been delivered out of the bondage of legal law-keeping religion. These disciples have a tendency to bring their concept of self-righteous religiosity into the realm of the gospel of God’s grace (See Rm 10:1-3). The result is that they sometimes look back to their obedience to the gospel of God’s grace as a meritorious system of law-keeping whereby they congratulate themselves on performing correctly the law of God. For this reason they encouraged others to obey the law of God without focusing on the power of the grace of God to inspire obedience and life transformation. We must not forget that the power of God unto salvation is in the gospel of His grace, not law.

• Far away in the city of Rome, therefore, some were bringing their concept of meritorious religiosity into the fellowship of the disciples. As was the case with some in Galatia who did the same, and thus started preaching “another gospel” (Gl 1:6-9), Paul believed that it was necessary that he go personally to the Roman Christians in order to discuss this matter before it turned the church into just another legal religion of self-righteous members (See Rm 10:1-3). He wanted to personally remind the Roman disciples that their obedience to the gospel was not a meritorious accomplishment of salvation on their part, but was the result of their being motivated by the power of God’s grace that first inspired obedience to the gospel, and then led to the transformation of their lives (See Rm 12:1,2). He wrote the entire document of Romans as a Holy Spirit-inspired textbook on this matter.

• As a result of turning the gospel of grace into a meritorious relationship with God through one’s performance of law (See Gl 1:6-9), Paul realized that a “GRBS” was in order for the disciples in Rome. Therefore, he sought to go to them in order to bear fruit in their hearts by instructing them further in the gospel of God’s grace (Rm 1:13). This is the key to understanding the difference between meritorious obedience to the gospel and a responsive obedience that is caused by the grace of God (See 2 Co 4:15).

Meritorious assumes that when one accomplishes certain steps of law to receive salvation, he or she is saved. But far more fulfilling is that a responsive thanksgiving for what God has done through the gospel, generates an inward transformation in the heart of the individual. This transformation starts before obedience to the gospel, because understanding all that God did for the sinner must motivate the sinner to do all that God would require for one to do in order to respond correctly to His incarnate Son. This result is a lifetime transformation. However, if one starts to question, or forget the journey of the incarnate Son of God, his or her response to the gospel begins to subside. It is at this time when one’s faith is in danger of becoming vain (See 1 Co 15:1,2).

In order that the disciples in Roman deter themselves from either a legal obedience to law to save themselves, or forget their initial motivation by the gospel, Paul sought to go to them in order to sit down with then and review again the gospel to which they had formerly responded. This is the central purpose for the establishment of GRBSs. This is an effort when disciples sit down and review again the foundation upon which our is built.

• 2 Timothy 2:2: In the function of a GRBS, it is the objective of the teacher to be a teacher of teachers. This was the mandate of the Holy Spirit to Timothy through the apostle Paul: “The things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, the same commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” This was a worldwide ministry that Jesus began with His imperative to the apostles in Matthew 28:20, and subsequently was to be continued throughout history until He comes again. The apostles were to teach those whom they baptized what Jesus had taught them. But added to what Jesus personally taught the apostles, the apostles were also under a mandate to teach all things concerning what the Holy Spirit would teach them after Jesus ascended (See Jn 14:26; 16:13).

When one establishes a GRBS, he or she is offering to baptized disciples the opportunity to be taught a catalog of truth that is revealed in the Bible. The final objective in establishing a GRBS, however, is not simply to teach teachers matters of truth. It is their objective to inspire those they teach to also start more GRBSs in order to perpetuate the mandate of 2 Timothy 2:2.

GOSPEL-ORIENTED TEXTBOOK
The textbook for the GRBS is the Encyclopedic Study Guide Handbook. This particular textbook was designed over many years as a resource for those who are actively preaching and teaching the word of God, specifically the gospel of our Lord Jesus. Through the sessions of classroom teaching that are taken from this textbook, only fundamental subjects are studied. Once the classroom sessions are completed, the textbook becomes a resource for teachers who can go forth and teach others also. In order to aid able teachers as they go forth to teach, there are several years of teaching material included in the textbook.

GOSPEL-FOCUSED CURRICULUM
The following subjects of the textbook are suggested to be taught during the once-a-week classroom sessions over a period of twelve weeks:

1. The Standard of the Bible (pp. 10-12)
2. Jesus is the Son of God (pp. 12-15)
3. Change from the Old to the New Covenant (pp. 30-32)
4. First Principles in Bible Study (pp. 47-54)
5. State of the Soul (pp. 54-56)
6. Survey of God’s Gospel Plan (pp. 56-59)
7. Gospel versus Religion (pp. 60-63)
8. The Body of Christ (pp. 63-65)
9. Revelation of the Truth of the Gospel (pp. 65-72)
10. Gospel-Motivated Worship (pp. 72-78)
11. Sharing the Truth of the Gospel (pp. 105-110)
12. How to Understand and Teach the Bible (pp. 110-117)

So in order to make an emphatic statement about what the Holy Spirit sought to remind all of us in the New Testament, the Spirit emphasized the power of the gospel as the central motivating factor to Christian living. There can be no politics in our total commitment to live the gospel. If we marginalize the gospel, we marginalize its power to transform our lives. We marginalize the cross and the sacrifice of the One who was nailed there.

• The truth of the gospel means that the gospel is true: In the three letters that Paul wrote to the two evangelists, Timothy and Titus, the fact of the gospel was made strikingly clear in his use of the phrase “the truth.” Before the letters were written, both evangelists had been with Paul for several years in his efforts to preach the gospel. These two former companions in the ministry of the gospel believed that the gospel was true. For this reason, Paul used the abbreviated form of the phrase “the truth of the gospel” in reference to all the gospel events and their significance throughout his letters to the two former fellow workers. He did not have to use the entire phrase. Because Timothy and Titus had preached the truth of the gospel with Paul for years, Paul needed only to remind the two evangelists of the message they had preached by using the abbreviated phrase, “the truth.”

Therefore, when we go on a journey with Paul through his three letters to Timothy and Titus, something becomes clear in reference to the power of the gospel and our necessity to continue to respond to the report (the New Testament) of the events that revealed the good news of God’s grace. If the reader has previously been schooled that the phrase “the truth” is a reference to some system of theology by which we can self-justify ourselves before God, then the following exercise of reading quotations throughout 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus will be quite helpful, if not revealing. If nothing would change one’s thinking from making “the truth” some self-justifying system of doctrine, to the historical events of the incarnational offering, resurrection, ascension and present kingdom reign of the Son of God that inspires godly living, then one is stuck in religion. He or she has denied the faith. He or she has severed themselves from Christ. Therefore, the following is a reading of the texts of Paul’s letters, with the phrase “of the gospel” added when Paul used the phrase “the truth”:

• 1 Timothy 2:4: God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth [of the gospel].” It is absolutely necessary to know the gospel before one can obey the gospel. However, knowing the gospel is not a matter of better understanding codes of doctrine. Neither is meritorious law-keeping the truth of the gospel. When we better understand the eternal sacrifice of the Son of God, it is then that we are motivated to begin living the gospel by first obeying it in baptism (Rm 6:3-6). It is this that God desires all men know. In order for the gospel to be known, it must first be preached.

• 1 Timothy 2:7: “For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I speak the truth [of the gospel] in Christ.” Paul announced the true events of the good news. It was not an announcement of doctrinal matters of law-keeping that he preached to the world. It was the truth concerning the gospel journey of the incarnate Son of God. He was personally chosen by Jesus to preach this good news to the world.

• 1 Timothy 3:15: “But if I tarry long, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth [of the gospel].” We, the church, are the medium through which the events of the gospel are made known to the world. God will not send angels to preach the crucifixion and resurrection. We are the pillar and ground of the gospel simply because the world will never know the gospel unless we live and preach it.

• 1 Timothy 4:1,3: “Now the Spirit clearly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith [Jd 3], … forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods that God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth [of the gospel.” Religionists will devise all sorts of religious rites, rituals and ceremonies in reference to religious behavior. These performances are preached in order to draw people to favorite religious groups. But those who have obeyed the gospel will always receive with thanksgiving those things that have been created by God. They do so because they believe what Jesus did for them. Their motivation is the good news about the incarnational sacrifice of the Son of God and the fact that He is now reigning over all things.

• 1 Timothy 6:3-5: Some are “obsessed with controversy and disputes about words, from which come … perverse disputings between men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth [of the gospel], supposing that godliness is a means to gain.” If there is no believe in the truth that Jesus is the resurrected King, then there is no impetus (power) in the gospel to motivated change in our lives. Men can dispute about certain points on an outline of doctrine, but there can be absolutely no debate about the events of the gospel journey of Jesus.

• 2 Timothy 2:17,18: “And their word will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymanaeus and Philetus, who concerning the truth [of the gospel] have strayed, saying that the resurrection is already past. And they overthrow the faith of some.” If indeed Jesus was not raised from the dead, then there is no reason to live righteously before God. Those who do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus have sucked the power of the gospel. Their faith has been overthrown, and as those who presume to be followers of Jesus, they wreck the faith of others.

• 2 Timothy 2:24,25: “And the servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those who oppose themselves, if God perhaps will grant them repentance leading to a full knowledge of the truth [of the gospel].” In other words, one cannot understand the good news of the incarnate Son of God if he does not live a repentant life. We repent in changing our lives to conform to the life that was illustrated by Jesus during His earthly ministry. Repentance in the New Testament is not in reference to changing doctrinal beliefs, though one must change beliefs if he or she believes that the gospel events truly occurred. We believe what Jesus said because we believe He was raised from the dead. But we must first believe in the events of the gospel before we change our beliefs, and most important, change our lives.

• 2 Timothy 3:6,7: “For of these are those who creep into houses and lead captive gullible women weighed down with sins, let away with various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth [of the gospel].” If one would fully understand that the Son of God was crucified for our sins, then the desire to sin would be suppressed. But some, because of their desire to live unrighteously, never want to understand the love of God for them that was revealed through the incarnation and crucifixion of His Son. Those who do not want to transform their lives in order to spiritually align with Jesus will never understand who Jesus really was and is (See Rm 12:1,2).

• 2 Timothy 3:8: “Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth [of the gospel]—men of corrupt minds, rejected concerning the faith.” Those who are corrupted in their thinking have no desire to come to a knowledge of Jesus Christ and His sacrificial offering for their sins. Those who are rebellious against authority will always resist the authority that has been given to King Jesus (Mt 28:18; Ep 1:19-23; Hb 1:3).

• 2 Timothy 4:3,4: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound teaching [about the gospel]. But to suit their itching ears, they will surround themselves with those who will agree with their own desires. And they will turn away their ears from the truth [of the gospel], and will be turned to fables.” Some religions are created after the desires of those who want to live immoral lives. For example, many today seek to live in fornication (adultery, lesbianism, homosexuality) because they seek to follow after the lusts of the flesh. Some religions are fabricated around the desires of those who have thus gone astray morally. It is for this reason that they do not desire any knowledge of a resurrected King Jesus before whom we all must eventually give account (See Hb 4:13; 9:27).

• Titus 1:2: “Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth [of the gospel] that is according to godliness.” The gospel is according to godliness because those who believe that the gospel is true seek to live a repentant live in conformity to the instructions of their Father.

• Titus 1:13,14: “This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply so that they may be sound in the faith [Jd 3], not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth [of the gospel].” When religious people start believing in fables and the religious authority of the commandments of men, they turn away from the power of the gospel. Therefore, it is inherent in religion itself to be opposed to the true events of the incarnational journey of the Son of God.

• Falling from a life-style: Obedience in response to the gospel means that one is motivated to live within the parameters of the instructions of the One who loved us through the offering of His Son. Therefore, our lives must reveal that Jesus Christ is our Lord. Our submission to the lordship of Jesus must be revealed in the life of every disciple of Jesus. If one would fall away from the gospel, therefore, he falls away because his life is no longer motivated and controlled by the lordship of King Jesus. In the first century, such falling away was happening among many of the Jewish Christians prior to the fall of Jerusalem in A. D. 70. This was a falling away that was addressed by the Hebrew writer about thirty years after the event of the gospel in Jerusalem. It was a falling away unto destruction (Hb 10:38,39).

James, John and Jude wrote at about the same time as the Hebrew writer, sometime in the decade before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in A. D. 70. It is not incidental, therefore, that all four writers referred to “the truth” of the gospel events in their letters. Their use of the phrase “the truth” was a reference to the motivation that encouraged a life-style that would keep one in fellowship with God (See 1 Jn 1:3). It was not that people were falling away from a catechism of doctrine, but from the power that encouraged one to continue in the faith. The following statements, therefore, must be understood in the context of what the gospel of God’s grace must cause in the life of those who believe that Jesus Christ is the incarnate, resurrected and reigning Son of God:

• Hebrews 10:26: “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth [of the gospel], there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.” This is not a reference to receive an outline of law, but receiving a knowledge that Jesus was the Messiah and offering of God for the sins of the world. If we would turn away from this truth, then the offering of Jesus for our sins no longer continues in our lives.

• James 5:19,20: “Brethren, if any of you strays from the truth [of the gospel], and one brings him back, let him know that he who converts the sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” The error is in straying from our belief that Jesus was the incarnate Son of God who was offered for our sins. We are saved by the gospel as long as we continue to believe in the salvational events of the gospel (See 1 Co 15:1,2).

• 1 John 1:6: “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth [of the gospel].” Reference here is not to performing the points on an outline of doctrine, but to living in thanksgiving of our Savior Jesus who offered Himself for us. The power of the gospel, therefore, is beyond salvational matters in reference to baptism for remission of sins. The power of the gospel continues in the lives of baptized believers in order that they are transformed into the image of the One who died for them (Rm 12:1,2). When lives are transformed, then people are living the gospel that they obeyed in baptism.

• 1 John 1:8: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth [of the gospel] is not in us.” It is true that we continue to sin when in Christ. However, if we say that we are not sinners in Christ, then the gospel of Jesus’ redemption is invalidated by our desire to live in sin. When we continue to allow the mind of the Son of God to influence our behavior, it is then that the transforming power of His gospel journey changes and guides our lives (See Ph 2:5-11).

• 1 John 2:4: “He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar. And the truth [of the gospel] is not in him.” Those who are disobedient to the will of God cease allowing the grace of God to cause thanksgiving in their lives. Since the gospel of God’s grace must motivate us to be obedient to the will of our Father, if we say that we are living by the gospel while willfully sinning, then we are liars. One’s faith in the truth of the gospel motivates one to live in response to the gospel.

• 1 John 2:21: “I have not written to you because you do not know the truth [of the gospel], but because you now it, and because no lie is of the truth [of the gospel].” We accept the letters of the New Testament because we have not grown dull of hearing (Hb 5:11). We believe what is written about the gospel because we believe the gospel.

• 1 John 3:19: “And by this we will know that we are of the truth [of the gospel], and will assure our heart before Him.” We will know that we are living after the gospel when we live in gratitude of what the Son of God did for us at the cross. When we are motivated by this faith, then we are of the gospel. When we are motivated by the same love by which God loved us, then we know that we are of Him (1 Jn 4:9,19).

• 1 John 5:6: “This is He who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by the water and the blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is [bears witness to] the truth [of the gospel].” The Holy Spirit bears witness to the gospel through the New Testament letters that were written in order to explain the gospel, as well as reveal the effect the gospel had on the lives of thousands of people in the first century. The Holy Spirit is the revelation of the event of the gospel (See 1 Co 15:1-4).

• 2 John 1,2: “The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, for the sake of the truth [of the gospel] that dwells in us and will be with us forever.” God and His Son dwell in us as we live in response to the redemptive work of the Son. His sacrificial redemptive work will take us into eternity.

• 3 John 8: “Therefore, we ought to show hospitality to such men [evangelists] so that we might be fellow workers for the truth [of the gospel].” Jesus commissioned His first disciples to preach the gospel to the world (Mk 16:15,16). When Christians, as Gaius, financially support those who go forth and preach the gospel, then they are partnering with those evangelists they support. Supporting evangelists thus makes one a fellow worker to preach the gospel to the world.

• 3 John 3,4: “For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth [of the gospel] that is in you, just as you walk in truth [of the gospel]. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth [of the gospel].” John’s reference to “walking” was a metaphor that explained the life-style of Gaius to whom he wrote. It was not that Gaius was living according to the subpoints of an outline on Christian living. He was walking in response to the fact that he believed that the gospel was true. In this way he lived in response to the gospel, and thus, the gospel was in him. We can know, therefore, that one believes the gospel by the manner of his or her behavior in response to the gospel.

• 3 John 12: “Demetrius has a good report from all, and of the truth [of the gospel] itself.” If one walks in response to the grace of the gospel, then his walk reveals that he lives in response to the gospel. Our lives, therefore, should manifest to the world that King Jesus is our Lord.

[End of series. Look for the book.]

JESUS IS “THE TRUTH”

Paul reminded Timothy that God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tm 2:4). When Paul used the phrase “the truth” in the context of 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus, he was using it as an abbreviated form of the complete phrase, “the truth of the gospel” that he used in the letter to the Galatians (Gl 2:14). Therefore, when Paul made the preceding statement, he wanted all men to come to a knowledge of the historical event of the Son of God coming into the world for the salvation of all people. The meaning of “the truth” was not in reference to learning a theological outline of scriptures in reference to some doctrinal system of law. Paul wanted the world to come to a knowledge of Jesus Christ and His redemptive offering for the sins of the world (See Rm 9:1-3; 10:1).

The gospel is not an outline of true points of a church catechism. “The truth of the gospel” is not some systematic theology that is assembled together through the organization of favorite proof texts. The abbreviated statement of this phrase, “the truth,” is not a reference to doctrine, though doctrine of the New Testament is true and important. But in reference to “the truth” as the phrase is connected with the word “gospel,” it is truth in reference to a Divine being and action in reference to the salvation of the world. Jesus explained, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6). Jesus said that He was “the truth.” This is person, not doctrine.

Though the religionists to whom Jesus spoke on the occasion of the preceding statement in John 14 were seeking some systematic theology of traditions or doctrinal mandates from Jesus, at the time, they, as well as the disciples who stood with Jesus on the occasion, still could not understand that He was the incarnate “Word of God.” He was “the truth” that was revealed from God. He was God’s Word through which redemption came to mankind.

Now consider this point in reference to Jesus, the incarnate Word of God, who stood before Pilate. Jesus said to Pilate, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this cause I came into he world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (Jn 18:37). But Jesus’ statement so befuddled Pilate that he responded to Jesus, “What is truth?” (Jn 18:38). What Pilate did not understand is that the “what” was the “who” who was standing before him. Jesus was “the truth” to whom John the Baptist gave witness (Jn 5:33). Jesus was the incarnate Word who was sent to mankind. This truth was far outside the understanding of Pilate at the time. The King who was before him was “the truth,” the incarnate Word who had come into the world (Jn 1:1,2,14). This was “the truth” to whom the Father had given witness through the works that Jesus did in the midst of the people (Jn 5:36).

Nevertheless, regardless of Pilate’s limited understanding of these spiritual matters, he was certainly not asking from Jesus some doctrinal manifest that would explain a systematic theology that Jesus was promoting, specifically in reference to the existence of Jewish insurrections who were scattered through the Roman Empire. At the time, Pilate was frustrated, seeing Jesus only as a man whom the Jews sought to have eliminated. But he could find no fault in His behavior that would warrant His execution (Jn 18:38).

Our understanding that Jesus is “the truth” is brought out in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. In the same context of those who would not walk according to the gospel in Jerusalem, Paul wrote, “To whom [the legalistic Jewish religionists] we did not yield in subjection even for an hour, so that the truth of the gospel might continue with you” (Gl 2:5). These were those who “were not straighforward about the truth of the gospel” (Gl 2:14). Jesus was the good news that was revealed to the Galatians. He is the truth to which all people must gravitate. It is as Jesus said during His earthly ministry, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Me” (Jn 12:32).

When the apostles first went forth to preach the gospel, people heard “the word of the truth of the gospel” (Cl 1:5). There is a difference between the medium of the preached word by which the gospel of Jesus is communicated to the world, and the gospel itself (See 1 Co 15:1-4). The gospel is good news about the truth of Jesus’ incarnation, sacrificial offering, resurrection, ascension and reign at the right hand of God. We use words to communicate this salvational journey of the Son of God into and out of this world. These are the truthful events that must be preached to the world in order that all those who desire to hear might “come to the knowledge of the truth [of the gospel]” (1 Tm 2:4). It is knowledge of this Jesus to which all men must come.

When one ceases to believe the word by which “the truth” of Jesus is communicated, then he begins to turn from the truth of who Jesus is. His doubt assumes that he no longer believes any of the events of the gospel, and thus begins to doubt whether Jesus is the Son of God. There are those who enter into the body of Christ who were initially convicted by the truth of the gospel. But later they began to doubt the historical events of the gospel, and thus they eroded Jesus Christ as the foundation upon which their faith was built (1 Co 3:11).

When belief in Jesus as the Christ and Son of God is preached, church happens, because people believe that He is our resurrected Savior (See Mt 16:18,19). The church in turn becomes the medium through which the truth of the gospel is preached to the world (1 Tm 3:15). Nevertheless, there are those in the church who become “destitute of the truth [of the gospel]” (1 Tm 6:5). They are as Hymanaeus and Philetus, “who concerning the truth [of the gospel] have strayed” (2 Tm 2:18). In the case of these two brethren, they denied the gospel of the resurrection. And by making such a denial, “they overthrow the faith of some” (2 Tm 2:18).

God desires that we continue to grow in our knowledge of the gospel. The textbook of the New Testament must be devoured lest we ourselves be devoured by Satan. For this reason, the early evangelists returned to Christians who had initially responded to the gospel. They returned to teach again the gospel in order that they might come to “a full knowledge of the truth [of the gospel]” (2 Tm 2:26). Some wrote to encourage the disciples to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus (2 Pt 3:18). On one occasion, this was the reason why Paul wanted to make a trip to Rome. He wanted to go to the disciples in Rome in order that he might bear fruit among them through his continued teaching of the gospel (See Rm 1:13-16). He knew that some are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth [of the gospel]” (2 Tm 3:7). Therefore, Christians must take every opportunity to study and discuss matters concerning the truth of the gospel.

In view of the fact that there are always present among the disciples “men of corrupt minds” (2 Tm 3:8), it is the work of every evangelist to continue to teach the gospel in order that the members of the body might come to a full knowledge of the gospel. This is necessary because there are always those in the fellowship of the church who “will turn away their ears from the truth [of the gospel] and will be turned to fables” (2 Tm 4:4). In the first century, these were those who gave “heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth [of the gospel]” (Ti 1:14). Such people need to remember the final warning of the Hebrew writer in reference to some Jewish Christians who were returning to the religion of the Jews: “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth [of the gospel], there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” (Hb 10:26).

[Next in series: Jan. 12]

Do not think that we have belabored the subject, the truth of the gospel. Sometimes it is necessary to go as deep as possible on crucial subjects as this in order to understand that in general, religion has led us astray from our focus on the gospel that we believe. Religion is so theologically orchestrated that systems of religious behavior have marginalized a knowledge of the gospel. This is particularly true in reference to those who would seek to live a political life in an effort to please everyone. In their quest to be political, they sometimes pay little homage to the events of the whole gospel, particularly to the incarnation and present kingdom reign of King Jesus.

So in order to make an emphatic statement about what the Holy Spirit sought to remind all of us in the New Testament, the Spirit emphasized the power of the gospel as the central motivating factor to Christian living. There can be no politics in our total commitment to live the gospel. If we marginalize the gospel, we marginalize its power to transform our lives. We marginalize the cross and the sacrifice of the One who was nailed there.

• The truth of the gospel means that the gospel is true: In the three letters that Paul wrote to the two evangelists, Timothy and Titus, the fact of the gospel was made strikingly clear in his use of the phrase “the truth.” Before the letters were written, both evangelists had been with Paul for several years in his efforts to preach the gospel. These two former companions in the ministry of the gospel believed that the gospel was true. For this reason, Paul used the abbreviated form of the phrase “the truth of the gospel” in reference to all the gospel events and their significance throughout his letters to the two former fellow workers. He did not have to use the entire phrase. Because Timothy and Titus had preached the truth of the gospel with Paul for years, Paul needed only to remind the two evangelists of the message they had preached by using the abbreviated phrase, “the truth.”

Therefore, when we go on a journey with Paul through his three letters to Timothy and Titus, something becomes clear in reference to the power of the gospel and our necessity to continue to respond to the report (the New Testament) of the events that revealed the good news of God’s grace. If the reader has previously been schooled that the phrase “the truth” is a reference to some system of theology by which we can self-justify ourselves before God, then the following exercise of reading quotations throughout 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus will be quite helpful, if not revealing. If nothing would change one’s thinking from making “the truth” some self-justifying system of doctrine, to the historical events of the incarnational offering, resurrection, ascension and present kingdom reign of the Son of God that inspires godly living, then one is stuck in religion. He or she has denied the faith. He or she has severed themselves from Christ. Therefore, the following is a reading of the texts of Paul’s letters, with the phrase “of the gospel” added when Paul used the phrase “the truth”:

• 1 Timothy 2:4: God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth [of the gospel].” It is absolutely necessary to know the gospel before one can obey the gospel. However, knowing the gospel is not a matter of better understanding codes of doctrine. Neither is meritorious law-keeping the truth of the gospel. When we better understand the eternal sacrifice of the Son of God, it is then that we are motivated to begin living the gospel by first obeying it in baptism (Rm 6:3-6). It is this that God desires all men know. In order for the gospel to be known, it must first be preached.

• 1 Timothy 2:7: “For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I speak the truth [of the gospel] in Christ.” Paul announced the true events of the good news. It was not an announcement of doctrinal matters of law-keeping that he preached to the world. It was the truth concerning the gospel journey of the incarnate Son of God. He was personally chosen by Jesus to preach this good news to the world.

• 1 Timothy 3:15: “But if I tarry long, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth [of the gospel].” We, the church, are the medium through which the events of the gospel are made known to the world. God will not send angels to preach the crucifixion and resurrection. We are the pillar and ground of the gospel simply because the world will never know the gospel unless we live and preach it.

• 1 Timothy 4:1,3: “Now the Spirit clearly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith [Jd 3], … forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods that God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth [of the gospel.” Religionists will devise all sorts of religious rites, rituals and ceremonies in reference to religious behavior. These performances are preached in order to draw people to favorite religious groups. But those who have obeyed the gospel will always receive with thanksgiving those things that have been created by God. They do so because they believe what Jesus did for them. Their motivation is the good news about the incarnational sacrifice of the Son of God and the fact that He is now reigning over all things.

• 1 Timothy 6:3-5: Some are “obsessed with controversy and disputes about words, from which come … perverse disputings between men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth [of the gospel], supposing that godliness is a means to gain.” If there is no believe in the truth that Jesus is the resurrected King, then there is no impetus (power) in the gospel to motivated change in our lives. Men can dispute about certain points on an outline of doctrine, but there can be absolutely no debate about the events of the gospel journey of Jesus.

• 2 Timothy 2:17,18: “And their word will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymanaeus and Philetus, who concerning the truth [of the gospel] have strayed, saying that the resurrection is already past. And they overthrow the faith of some.” If indeed Jesus was not raised from the dead, then there is no reason to live righteously before God. Those who do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus have sucked the power of the gospel. Their faith has been overthrown, and as those who presume to be followers of Jesus, they wreck the faith of others.

• 2 Timothy 2:24,25: “And the servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those who oppose themselves, if God perhaps will grant them repentance leading to a full knowledge of the truth [of the gospel].” In other words, one cannot understand the good news of the incarnate Son of God if he does not live a repentant life. We repent in changing our lives to conform to the life that was illustrated by Jesus during His earthly ministry. Repentance in the New Testament is not in reference to changing doctrinal beliefs, though one must change beliefs if he or she believes that the gospel events truly occurred. We believe what Jesus said because we believe He was raised from the dead. But we must first believe in the events of the gospel before we change our beliefs, and most important, change our lives.

• 2 Timothy 3:6,7: “For of these are those who creep into houses and lead captive gullible women weighed down with sins, let away with various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth [of the gospel].” If one would fully understand that the Son of God was crucified for our sins, then the desire to sin would be suppressed. But some, because of their desire to live unrighteously, never want to understand the love of God for them that was revealed through the incarnation and crucifixion of His Son. Those who do not want to transform their lives in order to spiritually align with Jesus will never understand who Jesus really was and is (See Rm 12:1,2).

• 2 Timothy 3:8: “Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth [of the gospel]—men of corrupt minds, rejected concerning the faith.” Those who are corrupted in their thinking have no desire to come to a knowledge of Jesus Christ and His sacrificial offering for their sins. Those who are rebellious against authority will always resist the authority that has been given to King Jesus (Mt 28:18; Ep 1:19-23; Hb 1:3).

• 2 Timothy 4:3,4: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound teaching [about the gospel]. But to suit their itching ears, they will surround themselves with those who will agree with their own desires. And they will turn away their ears from the truth [of the gospel], and will be turned to fables.” Some religions are created after the desires of those who want to live immoral lives. For example, many today seek to live in fornication (adultery, lesbianism, homosexuality) because they seek to follow after the lusts of the flesh. Some religions are fabricated around the desires of those who have thus gone astray morally. It is for this reason that they do not desire any knowledge of a resurrected King Jesus before whom we all must eventually give account (See Hb 4:13; 9:27).

• Titus 1:2: “Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth [of the gospel] that is according to godliness.” The gospel is according to godliness because those who believe that the gospel is true seek to live a repentant live in conformity to the instructions of their Father.

• Titus 1:13,14: “This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply so that they may be sound in the faith [Jd 3], not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth [of the gospel].” When religious people start believing in fables and the religious authority of the commandments of men, they turn away from the power of the gospel. Therefore, it is inherent in religion itself to be opposed to the true events of the incarnational journey of the Son of God.

• Falling from a life-style: Obedience in response to the gospel means that one is motivated to live within the parameters of the instructions of the One who loved us through the offering of His Son. Therefore, our lives must reveal that Jesus Christ is our Lord. Our submission to the lordship of Jesus must be revealed in the life of every disciple of Jesus. If one would fall away from the gospel, therefore, he falls away because his life is no longer motivated and controlled by the lordship of King Jesus. In the first century, such falling away was happening among many of the Jewish Christians prior to the fall of Jerusalem in A. D. 70. This was a falling away that was addressed by the Hebrew writer about thirty years after the event of the gospel in Jerusalem. It was a falling away unto destruction (Hb 10:38,39).

James, John and Jude wrote at about the same time as the Hebrew writer, sometime in the decade before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in A. D. 70. It is not incidental, therefore, that all four writers referred to “the truth” of the gospel events in their letters. Their use of the phrase “the truth” was a reference to the motivation that encouraged a life-style that would keep one in fellowship with God (See 1 Jn 1:3). It was not that people were falling away from a catechism of doctrine, but from the power that encouraged one to continue in the faith. The following statements, therefore, must be understood in the context of what the gospel of God’s grace must cause in the life of those who believe that Jesus Christ is the incarnate, resurrected and reigning Son of God:

• Hebrews 10:26: “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth [of the gospel], there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.” This is not a reference to receive an outline of law, but receiving a knowledge that Jesus was the Messiah and offering of God for the sins of the world. If we would turn away from this truth, then the offering of Jesus for our sins no longer continues in our lives.

• James 5:19,20: “Brethren, if any of you strays from the truth [of the gospel], and one brings him back, let him know that he who converts the sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” The error is in straying from our belief that Jesus was the incarnate Son of God who was offered for our sins. We are saved by the gospel as long as we continue to believe in the salvational events of the gospel (See 1 Co 15:1,2).

• 1 John 1:6: “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth [of the gospel].” Reference here is not to performing the points on an outline of doctrine, but to living in thanksgiving of our Savior Jesus who offered Himself for us. The power of the gospel, therefore, is beyond salvational matters in reference to baptism for remission of sins. The power of the gospel continues in the lives of baptized believers in order that they are transformed into the image of the One who died for them (Rm 12:1,2). When lives are transformed, then people are living the gospel that they obeyed in baptism.

• 1 John 1:8: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth [of the gospel] is not in us.” It is true that we continue to sin when in Christ. However, if we say that we are not sinners in Christ, then the gospel of Jesus’ redemption is invalidated by our desire to live in sin. When we continue to allow the mind of the Son of God to influence our behavior, it is then that the transforming power of His gospel journey changes and guides our lives (See Ph 2:5-11).

• 1 John 2:4: “He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar. And the truth [of the gospel] is not in him.” Those who are disobedient to the will of God cease allowing the grace of God to cause thanksgiving in their lives. Since the gospel of God’s grace must motivate us to be obedient to the will of our Father, if we say that we are living by the gospel while willfully sinning, then we are liars. One’s faith in the truth of the gospel motivates one to live in response to the gospel.

• 1 John 2:21: “I have not written to you because you do not know the truth [of the gospel], but because you now it, and because no lie is of the truth [of the gospel].” We accept the letters of the New Testament because we have not grown dull of hearing (Hb 5:11). We believe what is written about the gospel because we believe the gospel.

• 1 John 3:19: “And by this we will know that we are of the truth [of the gospel], and will assure our heart before Him.” We will know that we are living after the gospel when we live in gratitude of what the Son of God did for us at the cross. When we are motivated by this faith, then we are of the gospel. When we are motivated by the same love by which God loved us, then we know that we are of Him (1 Jn 4:9,19).

• 1 John 5:6: “This is He who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by the water and the blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is [bears witness to] the truth [of the gospel].” The Holy Spirit bears witness to the gospel through the New Testament letters that were written in order to explain the gospel, as well as reveal the effect the gospel had on the lives of thousands of people in the first century. The Holy Spirit is the revelation of the event of the gospel (See 1 Co 15:1-4).

• 2 John 1,2: “The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, for the sake of the truth [of the gospel] that dwells in us and will be with us forever.” God and His Son dwell in us as we live in response to the redemptive work of the Son. His sacrificial redemptive work will take us into eternity.

• 3 John 3,4: “For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth [of the gospel] that is in you, just as you walk in truth [of the gospel]. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth [of the gospel].” John’s reference to “walking” was a metaphor that explained the life-style of Gaius to whom he wrote. It was not that Gaius was living according to the subpoints of an outline on Christian living. He was walking in response to the fact that he believed that the gospel was true. In this way he lived in response to the gospel, and thus, the gospel was in him. We can know, therefore, that one believes the gospel by the manner of his or her behavior in response to the gospel.

• 3 John 8: “Therefore, we ought to show hospitality to such men [evangelists] so that we might be fellow workers for the truth [of the gospel].” Jesus commissioned His first disciples to preach the gospel to the world (Mk 16:15,16). When Christians, as Gaius, financially support those who go forth and preach the gospel, then they are partnering with those evangelists they support. Supporting evangelists thus makes one a fellow worker to preach the gospel to the world.

• 3 John 12: “Demetrius has a good report from all, and of the truth [of the gospel] itself.” If one walks in response to the grace of the gospel, then his walk reveals that he lives in response to the gospel. Our lives, therefore, should manifest to the world that King Jesus is our Lord.

[End of series. Look for the book.]

Paul reminded Timothy that God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tm 2:4). When Paul used the phrase “the truth” in the context of 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus, he was using it as an abbreviated form of the complete phrase, “the truth of the gospel” that he used in the letter to the Galatians (Gl 2:14). Therefore, when Paul made the preceding statement, he wanted all men to come to a knowledge of the historical event of the Son of God coming into the world for the salvation of all people. The meaning of “the truth” was not in reference to learning a theological outline of scriptures in reference to some doctrinal system of law. Paul wanted the world to come to a knowledge of Jesus Christ and His redemptive offering for the sins of the world (See Rm 9:1-3; 10:1).

The gospel is not an outline of true points of a church catechism. “The truth of the gospel” is not some systematic theology that is assembled together through the organization of favorite proof texts. The abbreviated statement of this phrase, “the truth,” is not a reference to doctrine, though doctrine of the New Testament is true and important. But in reference to “the truth” as the phrase is connected with the word “gospel,” it is truth in reference to a Divine being and action in reference to the salvation of the world. Jesus explained, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6). Jesus said that He was “the truth.” This is person, not doctrine.

Though the religionists to whom Jesus spoke on the occasion of the preceding statement in John 14 were seeking some systematic theology of traditions or doctrinal mandates from Jesus, at the time, they, as well as the disciples who stood with Jesus on the occasion, still could not understand that He was the incarnate “Word of God.” He was “the truth” that was revealed from God. He was God’s Word through which redemption came to mankind.

Now consider this point in reference to Jesus, the incarnate Word of God, who stood before Pilate. Jesus said to Pilate, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this cause I came into he world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (Jn 18:37). But Jesus’ statement so befuddled Pilate that he responded to Jesus, “What is truth?” (Jn 18:38). What Pilate did not understand is that the “what” was the “who” who was standing before him. Jesus was “the truth” to whom John the Baptist gave witness (Jn 5:33). Jesus was the incarnate Word who was sent to mankind. This truth was far outside the understanding of Pilate at the time. The King who was before him was “the truth,” the incarnate Word who had come into the world (Jn 1:1,2,14). This was “the truth” to whom the Father had given witness through the works that Jesus did in the midst of the people (Jn 5:36).

Nevertheless, regardless of Pilate’s limited understanding of these spiritual matters, he was certainly not asking from Jesus some doctrinal manifest that would explain a systematic theology that Jesus was promoting, specifically in reference to the existence of Jewish insurrections who were scattered through the Roman Empire. At the time, Pilate was frustrated, seeing Jesus only as a man whom the Jews sought to have eliminated. But he could find no fault in His behavior that would warrant His execution (Jn 18:38).

Our understanding that Jesus is “the truth” is brought out in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. In the same context of those who would not walk according to the gospel in Jerusalem, Paul wrote, “To whom [the legalistic Jewish religionists] we did not yield in subjection even for an hour, so that the truth of the gospel might continue with you” (Gl 2:5). These were those who “were not straighforward about the truth of the gospel” (Gl 2:14). Jesus was the good news that was revealed to the Galatians. He is the truth to which all people must gravitate. It is as Jesus said during His earthly ministry, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Me” (Jn 12:32).

When the apostles first went forth to preach the gospel, people heard “the word of the truth of the gospel” (Cl 1:5). There is a difference between the medium of the preached word by which the gospel of Jesus is communicated to the world, and the gospel itself (See 1 Co 15:1-4). The gospel is good news about the truth of Jesus’ incarnation, sacrificial offering, resurrection, ascension and reign at the right hand of God. We use words to communicate this salvational journey of the Son of God into and out of this world. These are the truthful events that must be preached to the world in order that all those who desire to hear might “come to the knowledge of the truth [of the gospel]” (1 Tm 2:4). It is knowledge of this Jesus to which all men must come.

When one ceases to believe the word by which “the truth” of Jesus is communicated, then he begins to turn from the truth of who Jesus is. His doubt assumes that he no longer believes any of the events of the gospel, and thus begins to doubt whether Jesus is the Son of God. There are those who enter into the body of Christ who were initially convicted by the truth of the gospel. But later they began to doubt the historical events of the gospel, and thus they eroded Jesus Christ as the foundation upon which their faith was built (1 Co 3:11).

When belief in Jesus as the Christ and Son of God is preached, church happens, because people believe that He is our resurrected Savior (See Mt 16:18,19). The church in turn becomes the medium through which the truth of the gospel is preached to the world (1 Tm 3:15). Nevertheless, there are those in the church who become “destitute of the truth [of the gospel]” (1 Tm 6:5). They are as Hymanaeus and Philetus, “who concerning the truth [of the gospel] have strayed” (2 Tm 2:18). In the case of these two brethren, they denied the gospel of the resurrection. And by making such a denial, “they overthrow the faith of some” (2 Tm 2:18).

God desires that we continue to grow in our knowledge of the gospel. The textbook of the New Testament must be devoured lest we ourselves be devoured by Satan. For this reason, the early evangelists returned to Christians who had initially responded to the gospel. They returned to teach again the gospel in order that they might come to “a full knowledge of the truth [of the gospel]” (2 Tm 2:26). Some wrote to encourage the disciples to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus (2 Pt 3:18). On one occasion, this was the reason why Paul wanted to make a trip to Rome. He wanted to go to the disciples in Rome in order that he might bear fruit among them through his continued teaching of the gospel (See Rm 1:13-16). He knew that some are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth [of the gospel]” (2 Tm 3:7). Therefore, Christians must take every opportunity to study and discuss matters concerning the truth of the gospel.

In view of the fact that there are always present among the disciples “men of corrupt minds” (2 Tm 3:8), it is the work of every evangelist to continue to teach the gospel in order that the members of the body might come to a full knowledge of the gospel. This is necessary because there are always those in the fellowship of the church who “will turn away their ears from the truth [of the gospel] and will be turned to fables” (2 Tm 4:4). In the first century, these were those who gave “heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth [of the gospel]” (Ti 1:14). Such people need to remember the final warning of the Hebrew writer in reference to some Jewish Christians who were returning to the religion of the Jews: “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth [of the gospel], there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” (Hb 10:26).

[Next in series: Jan. 12]